Greetings And Goodbyes
by 16thfiction
Summary: The gang prepares for a visit from Jack and Rachel, along with the return of Angela from her year long stay in Europe. Meanwhile, Eric deals with an interesting woman at the orphanage. (Story 5 in Meeting The World Fanfic series)
1. Chapter 1

The month of May had to be one of the most exciting months of the year. The warm changes in the atmosphere as spring wound down and transformed into summer was one trait of the month enjoyed by almost anyone, making a walk in Central Park or a tour through downtown New York City nearly impossible for Cory and Topanga to turn down.

The previously bare trees had gone spring shopping and were now donning their dark green, healthy shade of summer leaves, some even releasing tiny pink petals that fell with the wind onto the sidewalks that others leisurely strolled across. The sun was beginning to stay up way past its original winter bedtime, giving Cory and Topanga plenty of light to study with outside in the comfortable temperatures of spring evenings.

As Topanga drew back the curtains of the windows in their apartment, a feather duster held in her free hand, she lifted the windows open and took a deep breath as the spring air began to seep in through the opening. The busy sounds of cars, taxis, and people below flowed in with the air, and as Topanga stuck her head out the window, she could hear bits and pieces of conversation among others.

In the midst of the unfamiliar voices, she heard the enthusiastic tone of her husband talking with Shawn. Topanga looked down just in time to see Cory open the doors of their apartment complex, his backpack bouncing on his back as he and Shawn entered the lobby, returning from a day of school and work.

Topanga had spent the day at home, resting and cleaning up the apartment in preparation for some anticipated guests that were coming into NYC later that evening. This day was only one of the multiple days that she had spent taking it easy, as she had been battling the last of her many gruesome bouts of morning sickness.

Nevertheless, it was all worth it, as her baby bump was growing along with the healthy growth of their baby. Only a few weeks earlier, the gender had finally been revealed to Cory and Topanga, and they were both overjoyed to discover a baby girl was due arrive in early December. Names were still up in the air, but Topanga was hoping to discuss names with Rachel and Angela, who were coming-along with Jack-to visit over the weekend.

Just on cue, Topanga heard a muffled whoop from out in the hallways. Cory, wearing a grin that stretched up to his ears, burst in through the door and spiked his backpack like a football onto the kitchen floor. Shawn came in behind him, smiling slightly while rolling his eyes at his best friend's childish excitement.

Cory triumphantly smiled at his wife as he blurted, "School is OUT! Which means no more college papers or _stinking_ exams for nearly _THREE MONTHS!_"

Topanga laughed silently as she turned back to dusting, happy for her husband. Cory had definitely earned the upcoming break, considering he had nearly run himself ragged through working for his nearly flawless grades. If he kept this up, he would make a great teacher in no time.

"I mean, _how_ could things get better than they already are?" Cory said, disappearing behind the fridge door as he grabbed a refreshment and made his way across the living room. "First off, summer is just around the corner, which secondly, means _no school_ and _plenty_ of time-" Cory fell back onto the couch and stretched his feet across the coffee table, releasing a contented breath as he finished, "_relax_."

"And prepare for the baby!" Topanga reminded, wagging her duster at him.

"Of course." Cory said, smiling as he watched Topanga dust around his outstretched legs on the coffee table. "And prepare for our precious, little darling."

"What are you guys naming her, anyways?" Shawn said, sitting next to Cory as he popped open a soda.

"We're waiting for Angela and Rachel to come so I can talk over names with them." Continuing to busy herself with dusting, Topanga finished with a squeal, "Oh, I just haven't seen them in forever, I can't wait to have some girl time!"

"And Shawnie, I bet your excited to see your girl? _Huh?_" Cory said, causing his friend to grin as he knudged him with his elbow. Angela's year spent in Europe with her father had ended, and they were hoping to welcome her back with Jack, Eric, and Rachel tomorrow.

"Yeah, I guess so." Shawn said, tilting his head back as he swallowed his soda.

Cory and Topanga paused everything they were doing, staring straight at Shawn, who had casually just dismissed the return of the love of his life-who he hadn't seen in one whole _year._

"What?" Cory said, shifting his position on the couch so as to directly face Shawn, giving him a shocked chuckle and unblinking, squinted stare.

Shawn sighed, bracing himself for another of the many discussions and pep-talks from the man who seemed to constantly stick his nose too deep into his personal troubles. "I'm just afraid Angela won't be so excited to see me."

"Excuse _me?_" Cory said, using a sassy tone of voice. "Did I not go through almost _anything_ to make sure _my best friend_ and _his girlfriend_ were always together?'

Shawn opened his mouth to answer, smiling in a way that showed he knew his best friend was a lunatic.

"Lemme go ahead and answer that for you-_yes!_" Cory said. "I did _not_ just put this relationship together with the intentions of seeing your happiness extend for just a couple years. _No_, I did _not!_"

By this time, both Shawn and Topanga knew that Cory was getting into his sassy, preacher spirit, as he had risen to his feet and had brought out his pointer finger.

"I had the intentions and _beliefs_ that _this_ relationship was going to go a lot farther than just a _couple years, _pal!"

"Cory, shut up for just a second, okay?" Shawn said, trying to bring his friend's sanity back down to its normal levels. "Angela hasn't been very active in our relationship lately. That just makes me doubt that she'll be real happy to see me."

"Well, her father was injured, Shawn, she's probably just busy caring for him." Topanga said, trying to reassure him.

"Yeah, but that was five months ago, he should be better by now." Shawn said.

It seemed neither Cory nor Topanga could think of anything to say that would calm Shawn's doubts, because only silence spoke for a few moments afterwards. Shawn rose to his feet and headed for the kitchen, crushing the soda can in his hands before tossing it into the trash can.

"Hey, shouldn't we be on our way to pick up Eric?" Shawn said, hoping to break the silence by change of subject. "Jack and Rachel are flying in around seven, and it's already almost five thirty."

"Oh, you're right." Topanga said, turning back to her dusting and hurrying to sweep away any leftover particles. "Call him to let him know we're about to leave, okay, Cory?"

"You got it." Cory said, heading for the receiver mounted to the wall in the kitchen. He gave Shawn an encouraging pat on the back, bracing him with his grip as he looked into his face; even though Shawn was smiling, it was a mournful smile that tried to hide the dread he felt inside.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Shawnie. Angela loves you."


	2. Chapter 2

Eric's heart belonged in the heart of NYC, giving as much of it as he could to the half-filled hearts of the homeless orphans. It did his own heart good to serve as a role model and a father figure to the children who did not have one. When he was with the orphans, he felt as he did when he was with Tommy, and to him, that was one of the greatest feelings in the world.

In the day, he stayed with them, helping them through their schoolwork and being a playmate to them during their free time. Not a day passed in which they didn't beg Eric to push them as high as they could go, or asking them to tell him another of his crazy stories from growing up in Philadelphia as they sat snuggled underneath their bedcovers at night.

"Eric!" came the sweet, high-pitched voice of a young boy as Eric pulled the bedsheets over him. "Tell the story again of when you and that friend dressed up as a girl!"

"No, tell us another story about crazy teacher-Feeny!" another would beg.

Feeny was not only an object of laughter to the children, however. Much of what he learned from Mr. Feeny, Eric applied to the children, encouraging them when an interview with a family hadn't ended how they had hoped it would, or when they're feeling especially sad one day after after thinking that they'll never be adopted into a family.

"You know," Eric would say, plopping a tearful child into his lap. "A wise teacher of mine once said, 'You don't have to be blood to be family.' So, just because you're not with your blood family anymore, doesn't mean that you don't already have a number of people who love you. _We_ are a family, because even though we don't share the same blood, we _all_ love each other like we do."

Eric was at home with all the children there, and everyone who knew him could safely say that the children felt like they had a home when they were with him as well.

On the evening in which Jack and Rachel were supposed to arrive, Eric was busy pinning a pile of screeching children on the ground, tickling them as they choked out pleads for mercy in between their laughs.

"Eric-Eric, stop! Stop it!" one managed to say, trying to catch his breath as he laughed continuously and squirm away from Eric's dangerous fingers.

Eric only continued to laugh tauntingly, his fingers flying across every ticklish part of the children's bodies as he watched their faces scrunch up and turn to a shade of flushed red. "I've finally got you right where I want you! No amount of begging will change my mind now! Mwuahahaha!"

He almost didn't hear the ringing of the phone in the midst of the squealing laughter, but he was able to catch the last few rings before they ended.

"Whoa, hold on, guys." Eric said, standing up and leaving the breathless group of children to finally take a breath. "I'm getting' a phone call, but don't move-I'm not done torturing you yet."

Eric sinisterly glared over his shoulder with a silly grin on his face as he headed for the phone, laughing as he turned away and heard the kids scattering and screaming.

Picking up the phone, Eric cleared his throat and answered, "Y'ello?"

"Hey, Eric." Cory's voice came from the other line. "We're getting ready to leave to come pick you up, okay?"

"Yeah, alright." Eric said. "Hey, what time are Jack and Rachel coming in again? I need to see if I can get someone to come in earlier tonight and watch the kids so I can spend more time with you guys. It's a Friday, though, so I'm gonna have to leave a little earlier to come back here."

Most nights, Eric went back to his apartment when it was time to sleep, but on the weekends, he slept over with the kids, making sure to treat them with lots of movies and popcorn.

"Alright. We'll be over in about 10 minutes, so make sure you're ready by then."

"Okay, gotcha. Bye."

Hanging up, Eric turned back to the kids, who were busy trying to hide themselves from him. They were doing so pretty unsuccessfully, however, as giggles came from beneath beds and visible heads were quickly withdrawn behind couches and chairs.

"Hey, where did you guys go?" Eric said, pretending that their amateur and unpolished hiding techniques were invisible. "I was just over there for a second and-this is ridiculous!"

Continuing to pretend to search around the room for them, Eric bent down and began to quickly crawl across the floor, continuing uncontained-and rather noticeable-giggles from the children.

"Huh! I'm starting to get worried!" Eric said, sitting up on his knees like a squirrel as he peered over the sofas and beds. "I think I'll have to call the police and report them missing if I can't find them soon!"

This definitely made the children laugh. This time, however, Eric didn't pretend that they were unheard; pouncing onto his feet, he leapt onto the couch and leaned over the top of it, causing those hiding behind it to scream and slide across the hardwood floors while trying to escape.

"Ahhhh!" Eric yelled, chasing them and snatching an unfortunately slow crawler, lifting him up high and shaking him, causing his screams and giggles to vibrate in a humourous manner.

Eric slammed him onto the soft cushions of the couch, tickling him as his legs kicked violently and his hands tried to pry Eric's off of his stomach.

"Alright, guys." Eric said, finally showing mercy to the kid and plopping down beside him. "Seriously, though, I have to leave for a few hours now. My friends that I've told you silly stories about are coming, and I want to hang with them for a few hours tonight."

"Awe!" came to unison wails from the children.

"Will you be back to sleep with us tonight?" one asked in an innocent tone.

"You bet I will!" Eric said. "I wouldn't miss movie and popcorn night for the world!"

This brought many smiles from the kids; Friday night was as much their favorite night of the week as it was Eric's.

"Alright, get on off to the dining hall, they're probably about to serve dinner by now." Eric said, glancing at his watch and shooing them off.

As they all raced each other out of the room, Eric headed his bed in the midst of all the children's beds, grabbing his stuff and beginning to make his way outside. Just as he reached the lobby of the building, however, he spotted a young woman sitting in a chair a few paces away.

She was cradling a baby carrier in her lap, rocking it slightly as she worriedly peered inside it, most likely trying to calm the cries of the baby strapped in it. By taking one look at her face, Eric could tell a lot about this woman; while she looked very young, her eyes were anxious and weary, like she had experienced years of hurt and struggle. She would not stop shushing the baby and seemed upset by the fact that her attempts to quiet her were unsuccessful, which gave Eric a hunch that she was most likely dealing with her first child.

Her blonde hair was messily resting on her shoulders, which were slouched forward, and her clothes-tattered jeans and a shirt that had obviously been used to do dirty work in the past-showed that she was probably struggling to provide for her family.

As much as Eric hated to realize it, it seemed he was about to deal with a woman who was considering putting her child up for adoption.

As soon as Eric began to approach her, she glanced up and painfully smiled. "Hi."

"Hi." Eric replied, smiling back as kindly as he could. "Can I help you?"

The woman seemed to be hesitant, diverting her attention back to the fussy baby before forcing herself to look up and respond. "Yes, you can. I'm-I'm considering putting my daughter up for adoption. Who would I address for that?"

"That would be me, actually." Eric said, sitting next to her and straining his head to get a glance of the baby.

Though her cheeks were streaked with tears and her eyes were red and puffy as a result of crying, she was a beautiful baby. Her thin strands of hair, now long enough to stretch behind her ears a little, was beginning to take on a color similar to her mom's, and her chubby cheeks appeared smooth and soft. She began to stop crying as she noticed Eric, becoming interested in the fact that there was now a stranger sitting close to her.

"What's her name?" Eric asked, smiling at this women's adorable daughter as he awaited an answer.

"Come again?" The young woman looked up, previously too occupied in the baby to hear Eric's question.

Before Eric could ask again, he heard a honk coming from outside, and looking out the window behind him, he saw Cory and Topanga waving from the front seat.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I have to go now." Eric said, standing up and gathering his things. "Why don't you come back tomorrow morning, and I'll sit down to discuss this with you then."

"Will you be here around 11:00?" she asked, standing up with him.

"Yes, I should be there around then." Eric said, reaching out to shake her hand. "What's your name?"

Again, she was too preoccupied with caring for her baby to hear his question, and with Cory continuing to honk the horn, Eric said one more goodbye and ran out.


	3. Chapter 3

Having lived in New York for almost one year now, the gang was finally becoming acquainted with the pace at which everything functioned. For Jack and Rachel, who had never taken a mere visit to NYC before, it was going to be a pretty challenging task to even find their friends in the airport.

"Wow." Rachel said, stumbling a little as she shouldered a hurried passerby. "Have people here ever heard of something called _personal space_?"

"I don't think they have enough room to even give _themselves_ any." Jack remarked, trying to guide Rachel and himself through the crowd.

Trying to squeeze through innumerable passersby and avoid knocking over the luggage that rolled behind them, the two of them struggled to locate their friends. All they could see in the waiting area were the unrecognizable faces of strangers, half-hidden by newspapers, their legs crossed as they waited for their flights to board or for loved ones to emerge from the flow of other people.

"Do you see them?" Rachel asked, stretching up on her toes and squinting at the selection of people.

Before Jack could answer, the two of them jumped at the sudden, startling scream from across the airport. It sounded high and crackly, an excited screech that sounded recognizable to both of them.

"JACK!"

All at once, Jack and Rachel both realized who it was, their shoulders and facial muscles relaxing with relief as they saw a familiar figure jumping up and down at a far corner in the airport by the window. Eric was grinning at the sight of his former Pennbrook roommates, waving his hands around until Shawn-embarrassed by the attraction of curious eyes to them all-tried to calm him down.

"RACHEL!" Eric ignored Shawn's efforts to distract him, continuing to bounce up and down and vigorously wave both arms now.

Jack and Rachel, exchanging knowing smiles and eye contact, crossed the airport to their circle of close friends, who began to approach them with outstretched arms and squeals from Topanga (and Eric).

"Ah, Topanga!" Rachel shrieked, wrapping her free arm around her close friend, holding her luggage in the other hand.

Stepping back, she looked up and down Topanga, having heard about the news of the baby a few months ago. "You look beautiful! Aww, look at your adorable baby bump!"

"Thank you!" Topanga replied, smiling as wide as possible.

"Hey, congratulations on the baby!" Jack said, giving Topanga a hug. "What gender is it?"

"It's a girl, due early December!" Topanga said, stretching her arm around Cory. "I thought I'd talk about names with you and Angela when she gets here tomorrow!"

"Can't wait!" Rachel said.

"Jack!" Eric stepped out, clasping his friend's hand and embracing him.

"Eric-" Jack said, patting his back. "Good to see you, my man! It's been too long."

"You know it has." Eric replied with a grin. Without Jack, he had really only had the orphans and Cory, Topanga, and Shawn to spend time with.

After all other greetings and hugs had been exchanged, Shawn stepped out and smiled at his step-brother. The last member of family that he had left had been gone for a year, and next to the love of his life, he had missed him much more than he thought he ever would have.

"Jack…" Shawn said, smiling as he stretched out his arm and grabbed his brother's hand.

"Shawn…" Jack grinned. The two pulled each other into a hug, patting each others' backs roughly.

"I've missed you, man." Jack said as they stepped back, grinning.

"I have, too." Shawn said. "It's good to see you again."

Jack smiled. "Real good."

Awhile later, after stopping at a pub downtown for dinner, everyone headed back to Cory, Shawn, and Topanga's apartment for some dessert. Topanga had taken a chilled cheesecake from the fridge, the creamy, yellow surface drizzled in a red, strawberry topping.

As everyone enjoyed a slice, they all filled the small apartment with more animation and liveliness than it had ever had before that night. Everyone shared laughs and managed to catch up on all the things that had passed in one year.

"So, Topanga, I guess you're going to need that DVD player back, huh?" Rachel said as she cut a bite of cheesecake from her slice.

"Do you guys still have that thing?" Topanga asked, shocked.

"Yeah, we do! We figured it wouldn't be too long before you were actually pregnant…" Rachel said with a sly smile.

Topanga laughed, then responded teasingly, "Yeah, well, my baby shower isn't for a few months, so I can do without it until then."

"Anything exciting happening with the little one lately? When did you find out you were pregnant?" Rachel asked, curious to get the scoop on the baby.

"I found out back in late March when we went into Philadelphia for Easter." Topanga said.

"She was sick as a dog." Shawn added, bringing horrific memories back to his, Eric, Cory, and Topanga's heads.

"Aww.." Rachel cooed in sympathy.

"Be thankful that you weren't there to clean up after it." Cory remarked.

"It was pretty bad. Everyone else thought it was just food poisoning or a stomach flu, but I realized almost right away something was definitely off." Topanga said. "So, we went to the doctor's office, and sure enough, we walked away as future parents!"

"Best-worst Easter weekend of our lives." Cory said with a smile as he finished his cheesecake.

"So, Eric, what's been happening with you since the move up here?" Jack asked, turning his spoon on it's side as he tried to scoop up the remaining traces of strawberry glazing.

"Well, I started working as a caretaker at the orphanage on sixteenth street, just a couple blocks from here." Eric said. "It's been a great experience, I've loved every second of it."

"The kids love him so much." Topanga said.

"Oh, that's so sweet." Rachel remarked thoughtfully. "So, I guess it's been working with kids like Tommy?"

"Yeah, almost exactly like that." Eric said. "Except, I don't think I like any of them as much as I ever liked Tommy."

"He was a special one." Rachel said. "Have you ever gotten any letters from him or anything?"

"Yeah, I have, actually." Eric replied. "As a matter of fact, I just talked to him on the phone the other night, and he told me he was doing really well over in California."

"That's so great…" Rachel said.

"So, Jack and Rachel, tell us everything about your year in the Peace CORPS!" Topanga changed the subject excitedly, eager to hear about their adventures.

"Oh, it was absolutely amazing!" Rachel said.

"It was really an incredible experience." Jack said, nodding. "They flew us out to there on the first of June, and we started out living in a house with all the other volunteers."

"It was located in a small village in Senegal." Rachel added. "Unfortunately, it was a very dirty, poorly part of the country, and a lot of the children there were orphans."

"We started out by learning their language, becoming accustomed with their culture, just mastering the basics that we needed in order to help them out." Jack said.

"We were there to help them plant vegetables and crops that would benefit them, as well as making sure they had pumps that gave them clean water." Rachel said.

"What was your favorite part about it all?" Topanga asked.

"My favorite part had to be the kids." Rachel said, glancing over at Jack for agreement.

He immediately nodded, saying, "The kids were definitely the best part. They were a little shy at first, but once you eased them out of their shell, they were so joyful and fun to be with."

"They seemed to really look up to us, and that really made me feel good." Rachel said. "I just liked that we ended up making a positive difference in their lives. That was definitely my takeaway from our year there-I'm really gonna miss them."

"Well, we couldn't be any happier to have you guys back." Shawn said with a smile. "It was pretty weird not having the two of you around for such a long period of time."

"We really missed you guys, too." Rachel said.

Jack grinned as well. "And we couldn't be happier to be back with you guys."


	4. Chapter 4

Shawn was awake earlier than usual the next morning, and even though it was a Saturday, meaning he was free from work, he didn't even try to fall back asleep.

Shifting onto his side, he strained his eyes upwards to see the digital, neon red numbers of his alarm clock, the colon separating the five and double zeros flashing with every second, showing him he still had plenty of time to roll over and fall asleep again. However, his mind seemed to be completely alert and distracted, so he decided to let it drift wherever it felt like going.

And for the most part, it seemed to guide itself to thoughts of Angela.

One year ago, Shawn believed that he and Angela were capable of the maturity to maintain a relationship from opposite sides of an ocean that spaced the two of them over 4,000 miles apart for a whole year. He thought that once Angela returned from Europe, things would feel as if they hadn't even been apart for a second. He thought that if someone loved another as much as he loved Angela, no distance could even dent the relationship.

Now, as he looked back on it, Shawn realized he had only been a sophomore in college at the time, barely twenty years old when he had had that amount of faith in his love for Angela. He had no parents at all to give him any advice or guidance, only Cory, who had practically yelled at him to never let her leave.

Sighing, Shawn rolled onto his back, the mattress and bed frame creaking and bouncing as he did so. Maybe he should have just cut off the relationship then and there, because he had a strong hunch that today was going to be a very awkward reunion with Angela.

Shawn felt that when he would meet Angela today, he would realize that things were not about to be the same. He was waking up to reality, and reality instructed that 4,000 miles of ocean was never going to leave a relationship the same. At all.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey, Cor-it's Eric."

Leaning against the wall and pressing the end of the receiver against his ear, Eric glanced out at the water-streaked windows of the orphanage. The thin patches of grey clouds covered the usual blue skies of May, and the rain soaked into the ground outside, darkening the sidewalks and streets while leaving wavery puddles that reflected the images of hurried passersby.

"Hey, we're getting ready to leave to pick up Angela, are you almost ready?" Cory said.

"No, I'm actually not going to be able to come with you guys." Eric responded, his eyes now reaching up at the clock ticking above his head. "I have someone coming in a few minutes to talk to me about putting their child up for adoption."

,

"Aw, that really stinks." Cory said sadly, knowing how awful it must be to deal with such a heartbreaking situation. "Sorry, Eric."

"It's alright." Eric said. "I'll do as much as I can to guide her in the best direction-I just hate to see something like that happen, you know? Someone giving up their child, walking out and knowing they'll probably never see them again…"

"Yeah…" Cory said, trailing off into silence for a few moments before continuing. "We'll tell Angela where you are. Good luck."

"Thanks, Cor. I'll be around in the afternoon to spend some time with you guys." Eric said. "Bye."

Hanging up just in time, Eric spotted the lady rushing in through the rain, sheltering the baby carrier her jacket and making sure to jog around puddles. Eric stepped over to open up the door for her, smiling at her as she looked up and returned a grin.

"Thank you." she said, shaking out her jacket and peeking into the carrier to make sure her daughter was okay.

"You're welcome." Eric said, heading over to the spot where they met yesterday. "Let's just step over here and talk, there's nobody around."

Sitting down, Eric took a folded piece of paper and detached a pen from his front shirt pocket. "So, uh-I guess we'll just get straight to business. I'll just be asking a few simple questions to start, and if I see that what you really want is to put your daughter up for adoption, we'll move onto background information and things like that."

The young woman nodded, seeming nervous about starting a process that Eric could tell was something she really didn't want to go through with.

Suddenly, the baby began to coo and stretch her chubby limbs, looking over at Eric with wide eyes for before smiling.

"She's really cute, by the way." Eric said, becoming distracted as he smiled back at her. "How old is she?"

"She's a little over four months now." the woman responded, tenderly smiling down at her daughter.

Eric looked up at the woman and smiled, noting how much love and kindness her face reflected for her daughter. "Alright, so there's really not too many questions to be asked, so I'll start with the most important one. Why are you wanting to put your daughter up for adoption."

"I-I feel like I don't have any other options." the woman said, not even removing her eyes from her daughter.

"Are you a newly wed?"

"Yes, I am. Funny enough, though, my husband is off who know's where, so I'm just struggling to provide for only me and her right now." She continued to fuss over the arrangement of her daughter's blankets, her eyes full of pain and regret as she gazed at her. "I feel like she'd have a better future with someone else rather than me, someone who could properly care for her and-well, give her a more _stable_ environment to be raised in."

Eric nodded his head, feeling utmost sympathy towards her. "I understand. So, I'm guessing you'd probably like to go deeper in this discussion then, right?"

With mournful hesitation, the young woman responded. "Yes, I-" She sighed as she tried to get out the last, painful part of her sentence. "I guess I would."

"Okay. Let's step into a more private place, and we'll move onto background information." Eric said rising up.

Suddenly remembering something, Eric added, "Oh, by the way, I never got you or your daughter's name yesterday, I had to hurry out to get somewhere-what's your name?"

The woman looked up from her baby, unlike she did yesterday, and sadly smiled. "Katy Hart. And my daughter is Maya."


	6. Chapter 6

It felt pretty unusual to Shawn to be returning to the airport for the second time in 24 hours, especially for the reason that he was here this time. The first trip there was mainly exciting, but this time, it was both exciting _and_ nerve-wracking. As Shawn sat near the terminal where the love of his life was supposed to exit, his knee quickly bouncing up and down, he realized he had never felt so afraid to see Angela.

At the moment, she was probably gazing through a window at the foggy scenery of tightly packed skyscrapers below her. And Shawn was hoping that as she sat there, descending towards American soil once more, she wasn't feeling the same dread he was battling with.

Sitting there, struggling through every tick of the slowly passing time, Shawn thought about how his two visits to the airport were similar to his two visits to the hospital. He often did that when left alone with his thoughts—make up creative metaphors or compare and contrast different situations he had lived through or noticed around him.

The first visit to the hospital had turned out fine; Mr. Turner—while very gravely injured—eventually woke up about a day or two after the accident, grinning at Shawn and saying, "I'm not done yelling at you yet, Hunter."

The second hospital visit, however, did _not_ turn out fine; Shawn had lost his dad to a heart attack, and something inside him had never been a perfect whole again. He supposed it was most likely a regret of never having the chance to spend much time at all with his dad.

So, in Shawn's mind, the first hospital visit ended happily, just like yesterday's airport visit ended the same way in the return of Jack, the only true family member that he was left with. On the other hand, the second hospital visit resulted in a loss that Shawn would never be able to completely recover from—just like he had a terrible feeling that this airport visit would turn out in the same way: a loss that he would never be able to fully move on from.

Overwhelmed at the thought of losing two close people in two turbulent years, Shawn sighed, closing his eyes and bending his head towards the floor as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"How you holdin' up, Shawny?" Cory said, sitting next to him and putting his arm around his distressed friend.

"I'm barely holding up." Shawn said as he lifted his head and grinned with a chuckle. "If she doesn't get here soon, though—"

"Nerves are nippin' at you, huh?" Cory said in an understanding tone.

"Yeah." Shawn sounded more grave this time, looking over his shoulder to see if the terminal was opened yet. "I just feel so stupid for believing that a long distance relationship like this would actually survive an entire year."

"Hey, you haven't even seen her yet." Cory said, trying to ground his friend in as much truth as he could find. "Maybe you've just misinterpreted these past few months, because trust me, Shawn: I _know_ how much Angela loves you almost more than _you_ know. I was around her when you guys weren't together anymore in college, and I saw how much she still loved you."

Shawn looked up, listening to Cory as he went on.

"You two were almost apart for a year then, and she never lost her feelings towards you. I'm sure nothing's changed since then."

Shawn smiled, a spark of encouragement lighting the previous darkness in his eyes. "Thanks, Cor."

Just then, the a voice over the intercom announced the arrival of the flight Angela was on. Shawn perked up, his heart stopping, then rapidly restarting as he realized he was about to see Angela's beautiful brown eyes look back at his for the first time in over a year.

They all quickly leaped up from their seats and made their way near the terminal, watching a flight attendant unlatch the heavy door. Multiple people began to escape from the exit afterwards, some bouncing towards friends and family with squeals and outstretched arms while others separated from the group and headed outside the airport.

Glancing through the crowds, they suddenly located the brown-haired girl, wearing a tank top and khaki pants as she grasped onto her baggage, struggling to spot her friends.

"Angela!" Topanga yelled with a huge smile, waving her arms to help her find them, causing the rest of the group to do the same.

Immediately turning her head, Angela showed her gorgeous wide smile, making Shawn's insides feel even more jumbled as he nervously shifted from foot to foot, suddenly looking at the floor.

Everyone around him reached for Angela, pulling her luggage from her hands and into long hugs. Topanga and Angela swayed back and forth, laughing and almost crying as they were each finally reunited with their best friend.

"I missed you so much!" Topanga said in a joyful, yet unstable tone, her voice muffled as her faced was pressed into Angela's shoulder.

"I did, too, girl—I did, too!" Angela said, smiling as she squeezed her tighter and closed her eyes.

Finally stepping out of embrace, both of them continued to laugh and reached for their eyes, wiping away stray tears with their fingers.

"Ahhh, you look beautiful!" Angela said, directing her eyes towards Topanga's baby bump. "Can I touch it?"

"Yes, thank you!" Topanga said, then adding in reference to the previous scare of last year, "This time, it's real!"

Rachel stepped in, taking her turn in squealing and hugging Angela, followed by greetings from everyone else.

Finally, Angela found herself facing Shawn, smiling at the bashful face of her man as he chuckled and struggled to keep eye contact.

"Hey, Angela." he said, smiling at her.

"Hey, Shawn." she said, still smiling at him.

Continuing to stand there for a moment, silence passing among the group as they watched, Shawn dared to make the first move as he held out his hand. Angela glanced at it, then reached out and clasped onto it. Shawn pulled her into a gentle and loving semi-embrace, smiling down at her face before leaning down and softly kissing her cheek.

Once he kissed her, Shawn felt his fearful anticipations become reality. He didn't feel that secure, light-hearted, cloud-nine confidence and joy he felt when he usually kissed Angela. Instead, he felt an undefined barrier between them, something that felt cold and unfamiliar.

Because even though Angela was smiling as Shawn wrapped her in his arms, kissing her for the first time in forever, she didn't look up, and didn't even once return the favor.


	7. Chapter 7

"Oh, it feels so great to have my three girls back with me!"

Reaching out to squeeze their hands, Topanga beamed from Angela to Rachel's face as they smiled back at her, squeezing her hands back. The three of them had retreated to Svorski's Bakery for the afternoon while the guys hung out at the apartment.

Topanga had been waiting for months for this afternoon. Talking on the phone to Rachel and Angela wasn't anywhere as satisfying as having them present, and that was really the only kind of social connection she had ever gotten during the year. Topanga had made acquaintances with others from NYU, but she didn't really connect with them as well as she did with Angela and Rachel.

There were only two people she had been waiting to discuss the soon-to-arrive Baby Matthews with, and that was Angela and Rachel. Plus, none of her other college friends had stories that were anywhere as exciting as what those two had gone through during the previous year.

"We have missed _so_ much time together." Topanga said. "I really can't wait to hear what you guys have been up to."

"Same here." Angela said with a distressed grunt. "I mean, I can't believe I lived a whole year without my best friends!"

"Yeah, writing letters isn't at all the same as talking with you guys face to face." Rachel said.

"So, Angela? You go first." Topanga said, smiling as she waited for her to begin talking about Europe. "How was your year with your dad?"

"It was great, actually!" Angela said. "At first, I had my doubts about leaving you all behind for so long, but it ended up being a nice experience."

"Where did you two go?" Rachel asked. "Surely you traveled a little while you were in _Europe_."

"We started out exploring for a couple weeks before we had to be at the military base. We stayed a few days in London, seeing Big Ben, Westminster Abbey-you know, all that jazz."

She grabbed a few pictures from her purse, spreading them across the table as Rachel and Topanga eagerly reached out and examined them with wide eyes. "Here's a few pictures."

"These are beautiful!" Rachel said, flipping through snapshots of the late afternoon sun reflecting off the intricate, golden architecture of Big Ben, pictures of the lit-up London Eye against the black night sky, and even self-portraits of Angela and her dad riding on the top of a red double-decker bus as Angela's hair twisted in the wind.

"Here's some of Paris-" Angela set out more pictures of the Eiffel Tower and other exotic attractions. "We spent another few days there, then we went to Spain for our last stop."

Continuing to glance through the pictures, Topanga said, "So, where was your dad stationed?"

"At a military base near Luxembourg, Germany." Angela said. "Yeah, we spent one _hectic_ year there."

Looking up from the pictures, Topanga frowned. "A _bad_ kind of hectic? Or-"

"It wasn't a very _good_ kind of hectic, I can tell you that." Angela said.

"Why? What happened?" Rachel asked.

"Well, things started off well." Angela explained. "I was taking online courses at Pennbrook while dad handled his business, until one day I answered the phone and heard news that scared the _heck_ out of me."

"My dad had been pretty badly hurt in an explosion during training, and I honestly didn't know if he was going to make it for a few weeks. Thankfully, he made it out of that hospital, but it was a hard few months afterwards."

"Gosh, Angela, I'm sorry." Topanga said with tender sympathy in her tone.

"It put a damper on our year for sure, but it's over now. And Dad is stationed out in _Texas_ right now-" Angela added the last part rather grudgingly, but then finished with a positive tone. "But I'm glad I got to spend a whole year with him. It really helped our relationship to be with each other that long."

"Well, I'm _so so so_ glad you guys are back now." Topanga said, cheerfully grinning at the two of them again. "I was beginning to get pretty lonely. College acquaintances aren't _at all _the same as college friends."

"I bet you haven't had the chance to talk about the baby with anybody else, huh?" Rachel said.

"That's what I've really been looking forward to, being able to talk about her with you guys." Topanga grinned, stirring around objects in her purse as she pulled out a book.

Holding it up, Rachel and Angela gasped as they suddenly smiled.

"You haven't named her yet?" Rachel asked, eagerly realizing that they could help her.

"No, I wanted to wait for you guys to help me!" Topanga smiled.

"Girl, let's name that baby!" Angela said excitedly, ready to break open the book and explore the different names.

Flipping it open, Topanga skimmed through the pages as she said, "I already have a few ideas, but I thought you guys could throw out some suggestions, too."

"What have you found so far?" Rachel asked.

"Well, I like Lily-" Topanga smiled as Rachel and Angela both cooed over the name. "And Chloe, Samantha, Kylie, Mackenzie-"

"Oooh, how about Brooklyn?" Rachel suggested. "I've always thought that was a cute baby name, and you guys live in New York City."

"That's cute!" Topanga remarked, smiling as she continued in imagination, "_Brooklyn Matthews…_"

"Maybe _Ellie_…?" Angela said.

"_Ellie_ Matthews…" Topanga said. "That's good, too.."

"Are you looking for a meaning behind the name?" Rachel asked. "Something that would suggest a character trait you want her to have?"

Topanga squinted as she thought, continuing to glance through the book. "I didn't actually think of that.."

"Do you want her to be, like, _'bold'_, or _'caring'?" _Angela suggested.

Keeping her eyes on the page, she ran her finger down one page as she skimmed through the names. "Riley…"

"Riley?" Rachel asked as she and Rachel pondered the name in their heads.

"Riley…" Angela said softly. "That sounds like a _beautiful_ name."

"_Riley Matthews…_" Topanga said to herself, smiling as the two names combined and flowed together perfectly. "It means 'courageous'..."

"_Courageous_…" Angela said as her eyes widened. "Topanga, that's perfect for your daughter! You're the most courageous person I know!"

"She's right, Topanga." Rachel smiled, affirming Angela's statement. "That would be a wonderful quality for her to have."

Topanga smiled at her friends. "_Riley Matthews_..._courageous_."


	8. Chapter 8

"Okay-" Eric glanced over the sheet he was supposed to fill out, beginning to sort the questions in his head as he continued, "What's Maya's date of birth?"

"January 16th, 2001…"

"Yours?"

"March 17th, 1978."

Scratching information onto the papers, Eric handed the clipboard over to her as he said, "I need your personal information written here, such as your address and things like that."

With a pained gaze, Katy gently grasped the clipboard and began filling out the papers. As every long second passed with each _click_ from the clock hands, Eric continued to thoughtfully gaze at Katy. Living with these orphans every day had taught him a lot of things, one of them being how much children need love and the supporting structure of a real family in their lives in order to grow up in the right behavior.

Many of the older children were unwilling to communicate Eric, sulking and slinking around the orphanage with a long for something to replace the empty pain they were feeling. Many of them viewed their childhood as a failure and their approaching adulthood as hopeless.

Without the company of their peers from the orphanage, they imagined themselves as alone and unable to begin working on a solid future.

Family couldn't be depended on, as most of the older ones would end up going unadopted. And without a family, who could they turn to in life?

As Eric gazed at the innocent baby girl, feeling secure and loved in her mother's lap as she slowly drifted to sleep, he couldn't bear to think of Maya as someday going through the exact same pain.

There had to be something that he could do to save this broken family from breaking apart even farther.

"Stop."

Katy looked up with confusion in her eyes, slowly handing the clipboard back as Eric motioned for it with his hands.

"Katy," Eric began, "I live with orphans everyday, and I've seen how their hearts long for a family to call their own. Judging by the amount of disappointment, heartbreak, and lack of stability and security in their futures, the chances that this little girl will ever be lucky enough to have the family she has in you right now, are not very good."

"And even though you may not be able to provide for her through money, I've seen how much you care about this little girl, and I'm confident that you'll be able to provide for her through love. And that's all that really matters to a child-trust me. You'll be doing her more of a favor by _not_ putting her up for adoption rather than giving her up forever."

Glancing down at her baby girl, who was silently and contentedly sucking an invisible pacifier in her sleep, Katy concluded that Eric was right. The last thing she wanted to do was put her firstborn up for adoption, and if it wasn't even doing her daughter a favor, then it there was no other reason to even go through with it.

Katy smiled up at Eric as tears began to fill her eyes, which were now more happy than pained. As she gently laid her baby back in the carrier and tucked the blankets over her, she stood up and rounded the desk, reaching out and hugging Eric with a sudden, jerking sob.

"Thank you." she whispered. "We'll owe you for the rest of our lives."

Little did Eric know that he had just done a _life-changing_ favor for not just the Hart family, but for the Matthews family as well.


	9. Chapter 9

_It's weird how you can be fully expectant and prepared for something bad to happen...yet when it happens, it still hurts just as much as if you weren't expecting it at all…_

Resting his heavy head against the cold windows of the taxicab, a midnight rain blurring and streaking the views of a still-busy New York City, Shawn tried to ease his growing pain by telling himself that he had seen this coming. He _had _seen this coming: the doubt in her eyes, the hesitancy in her rigid kiss, and the uneasy tone of her body language had more than prepared him for this moment.

However, he had been so busy readying himself for her actual actions that he had ignored preparing himself for the pain in the aftermath.

As his eyes squeezed shut and his fingers gripped his face in shame and anger, Shawn thought with a sigh, _Gosh, where did I go wrong…_

Was it his mistake by letting her spend a year apart from him in Europe? Or, despite his willingness and efforts to maintain connection, did he need to try even _harder_ in communicating with her? Or maybe it wasn't anything that he could have done…

On the other side of NYC, the twilight downpour was drenching Angela and her already-dampened cheeks as she sat on the balcony of her hotel room. Both regretful tears and drops of rain slipped through her fingers, her palms muffling her shattered sobs as she shook with both emotions and chills from the cold rain.

Just like Shawn, she couldn't believe what had just happened. She was still so in love with the man, but sudden doubts and blinding fears had begun to dissolve her dreams of one day changing her name to Mrs. Shawn Hunter. The frilly, white wedding dress...slow, breathless kiss at the altar...the long-awaited honeymoon in Europe as she showed her man where she had walked: it was only part of her dreams, and unfortunately, Angela was wide-awake now.

Whatever it was that had caused them to break apart had them both feeling irreparable-and nowhere near recovery.


End file.
